Genie's curse
by Nival Vixen
Summary: Before he was bound to the lamp by a gypsy clan, the genie was cursed to never bear children unless the mortal who freed him helped with the deed. The gypsies go to great lengths to keep the lamp hidden, eventually securing it in the Cave of Wonders. When the curse is unknowingly broken by Aladdin, the genie knows he must protect his child at all costs.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Aladdin.

_Read on, oh faithful ones_...

...

Prologue

...

The four gypsies surveyed the captured genie before them. He was sleeping at the moment, and they had chained him to a lamp, the only thing in their possession that was able to hold the chain properly.

This black genie had done terrible things over the years, had never shown remorse for one life he had taken, and both his power and name were feared across the world. Humans and genies alike were celebrating his capture.

"What to do with him?" one gypsy asked softly.

"Kill him, like he did our sons," one replied with a snarl.

"Enslave him, like he did our daughters," another answered.

The three looked to the fourth, the eldest and leader of the gypsy clan, as well as their mother.

"We will take his past, present and future. Arishka will never be known, we will take his ability to father children, and we will bind him so that he is only allowed to do a human's will."

"That is a powerful spell, Mother. Do we have the necessary power, or should I get a messenger to call for others?" the first asked.

"The current spell will not hold him for long; they will not arrive in time. We have to do this now," she replied.

"He will need restrictions on what he can do, Mother," the third murmured.

"I know. Leave me while I construct the spell," she said, waving off their concerns at leaving her alone with the genie.

The three sons left, murmuring to each other and looking over their shoulders to their mother.

She waited until they were out of sight before creating a barrier around herself and the genie. Her sons didn't notice, and she approached the chained and sleeping genie.

"You will be bound to this lamp, Arishka, until a human allows you to be freed. You will never be able to sire children, unless the same human allows it to be so and helps you create the child. Your power will be limited by these three laws: you will not be able to make someone fall in love with another; you will not be able to kill anyone, and; you will not be able to raise the dead. The human that finds this lamp will have three wishes from you, and you must fulfil them, unless it breaches the three laws. You will be bound to this lamp, Arishka, and my sons will be your guardians. To everyone else, you will be no more. Your name will be forgotten, your evil deeds will be erased, the women you have enslaved will be free, and the men you killed will be a distant memory to ease the pain of those who suffer. I pray that you will find redemption, genie," she said.

She stepped forward, her palms outstretched as her spell began to weave itself.

Her son was right about the spell, but she did not dare take on their powers to help her create it. They would need their power to ensure the genie was controlled.

She felt her breath getting weaker as the spell continued to create itself. Hearing her sons, but unable to turn to them, she just smiled and continued to weave the spell. Her barrier was slowly disappearing as the power it used was needed for this spell, but she knew that they would understand and not stop her.

The genie woke up just as shackles appeared on his wrists. The spell had already worked its way up his tail, was almost up to his stomach, and his arms were covered by the white wispy spell that was stronger than any metal known to man or genie.

"What are you doing to me?!" Arishka yelled, blasting power at her.

She did not move, and the spell continued to take her life, year by year, month by month, day by day, hour by hour. She just hoped that she would have enough power in her life for the spell to complete itself. She did not mind that her life and body were being taken from her; it was necessary to bound the genie to his lamp.

Arishka yelled, screamed and cursed. He continued to try and blast power at her, but nothing happened. The shackles around his wrist burned every time he tried to hurt her, or as the spell worked its way up his chest, tried to get away. He was soon in so much pain that he was curled up in mid-air, too breathless and numb with pain to even sob. The spell covered his head, and he screamed silently as he was bound and sucked down into the lamp.

_They would regret this. He would make sure that they would regret it. Every last one of them! He had phenomenal cosmic powers!_

_And now he was in an itty-bitty living space_, a voice in his head said, laughing wildly.

...

End of prologue.

Thank you for reading; I hope you liked it!


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Aladdin, or any variation.

_Read on, oh faithful ones_...

...

Chapter One

...

"Do not forget the lamp, we must hurry!" the first son, now a father, called to his own son.

Local police had become suspicious of gypsies lately, and were driving them out of nearly every town they visited. He hardly had enough food to feed his family, let alone the horses and donkeys, yet they had to move on again, only mere days after arriving on the outskirts of town.

"Can't we use it? Just this once?" his son asked, immediately regretting the words.

His father, who had told him the tale of the genie, the people he had hurt, and the death of his grandmother in order to bind the unnamed genie, glared down at him.

"Never repeat those words, nor think those thoughts. Get inside the caravan Ravi," he said.

With wide eyes that were brimming with tears, Ravi nodded and hurried to the brightly-coloured caravan.

He didn't dare tell his father that he could hear the genie talking to himself at night, during the day, whenever he was near it in fact. Taking the lamp, he put it in its usual spot near the door, and sat down on his seat, watching the lamp carefully.

In all of his nine years, the police had never once been interested in the lamp. His father always said that in order to hide precious things, they should be kept in plain sight. Even a piece of gold could be overlooked if it was in plain sight; the police always went for the hidden areas of the caravan to find valuables. Most of what they took was worthless.

_You ain't never had a friend like me_, the genie murmured. _Whisper what it is you want from me_.

"Open this caravan! Now, or you'll lose your filthy head, gypsy!"

"All right. Let me just get my son out," his father said.

The caravan door was opened and Ravi was wrenched from his sitting place on the bench. He whimpered in fright; he knew his part well.

"What's going on, Daddy?" he asked, his eyes wide and filled with fake tears this time.

"Nothing, it's all right, my boy. These men just want to look through the caravan. Please, leave my son. He's an innocent in all this!" his father said to the police.

The police, predictable in their suspicions, immediately started searching the boy. They didn't find anything of interest until a small satchel with two gold pieces in it was found in his pocket, and then they started demanding answers.

"That's my pocket money! I did my chores," the boy said, whimpering as he started to cry. "Daddy gave me the money for being good. Have I done something wrong?" he asked, crying into his father's shirt.

"Two gold pieces for doing chores? I don't think so," the police officer sneered, pocketing the gold pieces.

He threw the satchel in the dirt, stepping on it as he went into the caravan.

"Anything in here?" he asked his subordinates.

"Only one hidden box. It was filled with some rags, wool, needles and dyes. Nothing of value in the caravan, just a couple of worthless lamps. Rest of the bedding is legit," one reported.

"Let me look," the police officer hissed, practically pushing his subordinates out.

_You're the boss_, the boy heard the genie whisper, even though there was a distance between himself and the caravan.

_Surely the police officer had heard him? What if he realised the lamp's true worth_? He silently begged for the genie to be silent. The genie didn't listen.

_You're the king, the shah. Say what you wish_.

The boy moved towards the caravan, keeping an eye on the other policemen. His father was the only one who noticed him creeping closer; it was surprising what adults did and didn't notice. He looked in, and saw the police officer turning their beds inside out and upside down, and every other way possible. The boy glared at the police officer, but he didn't notice, and continued to rip into their belongings.

_I'd like to see how he would handle someone ripping through his things_! the boy thought with anger, careful to not use the word 'wish'. It was a forbidden word, in case the genie heard and made it come true. _Besides, anything wished for in anger will immediately cause nothing but regret_, as his father always said.

The police officer turned around then, and spotted the lamp sitting on the shelf with the others. He walked over, his eyes gleaming. The boy held his breath as the police officer put his hand out to grab a lamp.

_Not the genie's lamp, not the genie's lamp, not the genie's lamp_, he begged, squeezing his eyes shut tightly.

"Tell me, Saol. What do you call this?" the police officer called out, coming to the caravan doorway.

Ravi's eyes widened in fear, and he squeaked as he dropped to the ground.

"A gold lamp, sir," Saol replied nervously.

"Exactly. Now, tell me again that there's nothing of value in the caravan," the police officer hissed, hitting Saol over the head with the gold lamp.

Saol dropped to the ground, blood seeping from his the dent on his head. The boy's father stood in front of him quickly, covering his eyes.

"My son is an innocent, I would appreciate it if you dispose of your subordinate away from his eyes," he said, his tone hard.

The police officer smirked, looking down at the shiny gold lamp in his possession. "Of course. Deal with him," he ordered someone.

Saol was dragged away from the caravan, his blood staining the ground after him.

Ravi hid his face in his father's shirt until well after the police had left. The boy knew that it wouldn't take long for the police officer to discover the lamp he had just taken from their possession was no more than just a basic brass lamp coloured to look like it was gold. Everyone knew that they had to leave before he returned with more force, so he knew how much trouble he was in when his father stopped to question him.

"Why did you go to the caravan? Do you know what would have happened if they'd noticed you, boy?" his father hissed, dropping to his knees so they were eye to eye.

"I'm sorry, father. I was just worried about the lamp," he replied, sniffling, the image of the fake lamp hitting that man over the head playing in his mind continuously.

"You've never been worried about it before. What's brought this on all of a sudden?" his father asked, lifting him into his arms and heading into the caravan.

Ravi was silent. He knew that his father wouldn't be pleased if he told him about the genie's whispers.

"What if that man had a family? A son, like me?" he asked his father, his voice soft as he stared past the mess in the caravan.

"Let us just hope that the officer does not tell the man's family that **we** killed him," he replied, trying not to think about that very thing his son had just asked. "Let's clean this up and get out of here."

_Say what you wish_, the genie's voice murmured.

...

End of the first chapter.

Thank you for reading.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Aladdin, or any variation.

_Read on, oh faithful ones_...

...

Chapter Two

...

Ravi, now a father, watched as the police searched his caravan. His father had died almost five years ago now, and the genie had continued to whisper to him. Ever since he was a young boy, he had always resisted the temptation to use it... But now he was married, his wife was pregnant with their second child, and the police were being far too rough with her and their young daughter.

The lamp was in his coat pocket, his daughter acting as the decoy on this particular raid. He acted like nothing mattered, but his teeth gritted when one of the men grabbed his wife's arm and shook her, trying to see if she was hiding anything or if she was only pretending to be pregnant.

"Leave her alone. We've got what we need," the police officer in charge said, a fake-gold lamp in his hands.

The man pushed her to the ground, and as his wife and daughter screamed, Ravi saw nothing but red. His fingers brushed the lamp's surface in his pocket.

_I wish that man were barren until he died_! he thought angrily.

Maniacal laughter echoed around him, and the unnamed genie swirled out from the lamp. He was no longer a black genie, but now a deep shade of purple.

"As you wish, Master," the genie murmured, bowing low with a smirk.

Genie zapped the policeman, revelling in his screams of pain.

"What have you done?" his wife hissed, staring at her husband in shock and dismay.

"What needed to be done," he replied.

"Daddy!" their daughter yelled, the Genie wrapping his arms around her.

They disappeared into nothingness, and his wife fell to her knees, screaming for their daughter. Ravi stared at the lamp, wondering what unearthly power he had just released.

...

"Genie! Your master calls for you!" he called loudly.

Again, as always for the past week, there was no response. He had heard the tales from his father over and over. _The _**_had_**_ to respond when its Master called_!

"I want my daughter to be returned to me. Now," he added, getting angry.

He was deep in the forest, the lamp in his hands. His wife was inconsolable, and the gypsy wives told him to stay away from her until everything was well and they had checked the baby. He knew that nothing would be well until their daughter was returned to them.

_Say what you wish_, the genie's voice murmured in his ear, taunting him.

Ravi whipped around to face nothing, and quickly turned to see the genie, who was just out of his eyesight.

_Three wishes_...

"I wish for my daughter to be returned to me, now," he said.

He had tried this very wish over and over since the genie had disappeared with her a week ago, and there had been nothing. _Why would it respond now_?

"Daddy!" his daughter sobbed loudly, suddenly appearing nearby.

He rushed over, and found her bound to a tree with chains and ropes that weren't made by human hands.

"Let her go, genie!"

"Daddy! Help me, Daddy!" his daughter cried, curled up at the base of the tree.

Ravi could see blood staining her dress between her legs. The red colour stained his vision once more and he turned to the genie, his hands clenched. _He would destroy the genie_!

_You have two choices for your final wish. Go back in time and forsake your first wish so that I could not have taken your daughter from you, or use your last wish to destroy me, but your daughter will always remember this... Choose wisely, _**_Master_**, the genie murmured mockingly.

Ravi faltered, his vision returning to normal. He couldn't let his daughter keep this memory in her head. The genie knew that, and so had given him the ultimatum of his death. _The genie had tricked him_!

"I wish to forsake my original wish, genie," he said, his teeth clenched.

The chains disappeared from his daughter, and as she ran over to him, time slowed down before stopping completely. Suddenly, she began running backwards, and was chained to the tree again. He turned around, no longer facing the genie. He called out his earlier words to the genie, the lamp in his hand. Replacing the lamp in his shirt, he then began to trek back through the forest, walking backwards.

The wives told him to leave his wife alone, glaring at him as they judged him with their eyes alone. Ravi climbed backwards into the caravan, took back the angry and bitter fight with his wife, and drove the caravan backwards along the road.

It seemed to continue on for days, until at last, he was at the place he had originally made his wish for a man to be barren for the rest of his natural born life. His wife was no longer on the ground, and her arm was caught in the policeman's hand as he shook her.

With taunting laughter, the genie swirled back into his lamp, which was still sitting under Ravi's shirt.

Time started once more, and his wife and daughter screamed as the policeman pushed his wife to the ground.

_Say what you wish_.

"Leave her alone! She is pregnant! You would not want your wife to be treated like this, would you?" he yelled at the man, before looking to the policeman in charge.

"Take care, you idiot! You don't want the death of an unborn infant on your hands," he said, hitting his subordinate over the head.

He didn't hit him with the lamp thankfully.

"Apologies, ma'am," the subordinate murmured, glaring down at the ground.

Ravi's daughter helped her mother up, and after his wife thanked their daughter, she turned and gave him a reassuring smile, telling him that all was well with their baby.

"Come! Leave these people, we have what we came for," the police officer yelled out. "You will be out of the city by tonight?" he added, slipping him a single silver piece.

_One silver piece for the four pieces of gold that he had just taken_? some part of his mind screamed in frustration.

"Sooner, sir. We do not want to impede on your generosity," he replied, taking the silver gratefully.

The police officer smiled largely. He didn't know that his pockets were currently being picked by the gypsy leader's daughter.

The police men left within a matter of minutes, and soon after, the gypsies were packed and gone as well.

"Daddy?" his daughter murmured later that night when her mother was fast asleep.

"Yes?" he said, surprised that she was still awake.

"The genie didn't do anything to me. He just didn't want to be your slave," she said sleepily.

"But... The blood?"

"Paint," she replied. "Thank you anyway, Daddy," she said and with a yawn, she went back to her small bed to fall asleep in moments.

...

Ravi was an old man now, his daughter married and giving birth to his third grandchild. The first two, a boy and girl, were as beautiful as their parents, and wiser than he had been at their age. They didn't hear the genie whispering at night, didn't know what it meant to hear it in your ear, telling you how your every wish and desire could come to being if only they rubbed the lamp. He was grateful they didn't hear the genie, but he still did, even when it wasn't whispering to him. The voice, soft as silk, yet as dangerous as a poisonous toad. Ever since being kidnapped by him, his daughter could hear the genie but she had steadfastly ignored everything it whispered to her, and refused to tell her father what the genie said to her.

He climbed up the dune at a slow rate, his body weary from climbing during the hot day, and now in the cold night. The police were still raiding the gypsy clan's caravans at nearly every town they stopped at. They were running out of lamp decoys, and the real treasure - the lamp that was currently inside his shirt - would come to their notice sooner rather than later. He could not allow the genie to fall into their greedy hands.

"Grandfather, are you certain of this?" his grandson asked when he stopped to cough miserably.

"Very certain," he replied firmly, despite the wheezing in his chest.

He would not survive this night, but if all went according to plan, then the genie would be locked away for the rest of time, and his death would not be in vain.

Fumbling in his pants pocket, he pulled out the two halves of the gold scarab beetle. They flew out of his hands immediately, a blinding light exploding forth as they joined together. The beetle then flew further into the dunes, digging into the soft sand.

He ran after it quickly, his grandson helping him along.

"Quick boy, quick," he urged.

They arrived just as a sand tiger rose from the sand. The Cave of Wonders.

"Who dares to disturb my slumber?" the tiger rumbled, his voice echoing and vibrating the fragile sand world around them.

"Ravi, head of the gypsy clan, and my grandson, Jai," he answered quickly, kneeling on the ground with a little difficulty.

"Why have you come?" the tiger asked, burning gold eyes staring down at them.

"We have come to offer a genie in a lamp for you to guard and keep prisoner for the rest of time," he answered, taking the lamp from his shirt and holding it up for the tiger to see.

"You ask something so great of me yet offer nothing in return?" the tiger asked, the sand shifting in its indignation.

"No. I offer my life," Ravi said, shuffling forward on his knees.

"Your life is worth little to me," the tiger rumbled. "Your death is already upon you, and what use do I have for more death? I need _life_."

"Then I offer my life," Jai said immediately, stepping forward.

Unlike his grandfather, Jai hadn't dropped to his knees at the sight of the sand tiger. He was afraid of it, there was no denying that, but he was not so afraid as to kneel before it.

The tiger's glowing golden eyes turned on him. "A young diamond. Rough, as you may be, a diamond you still are. Enter as you are, and so shall another the same be needed for the lamp's retrieval."

Jai touched his grandfather's shoulder briefly, taking the lamp from him before Ravi could stop him. He walked to the tiger and down the steps into the sand.

"No. Jai! Jai, come back!" Ravi called, struggling to stand. He made it to his feet, and started coughing instantly. By the time he cleared his lungs, the tiger was already melting and the scarab beetle split in two.

Ravi gathered the now-lifeless pieces and ran as fast as his old legs could move. He barely managed to relate the tale to his daughter, who would soon become the new gypsy leader, before he took his last breath. She cried over his body, for both the loss her father, and her son.

_You ain't never had a friend like me_.

...

End of the second chapter.

Thank you for reading, I hope you liked it!


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Aladdin or any variations.

_Read on, oh faithful ones_...

...

Chapter Three

...

The lamp was gone from Jai's hands, hidden in the depths of the tiger. Not even a lifetime of searching would reveal the lamp for the one who had already held it. The tiger kept his promise to guard the lamp, and so Jai never saw it again.

Jai wandered through every part of the tiger for what could have been years. Jewels at every look, more gold coins than he could count, scrolls with foreign and unknown scribblings. Corridors and stairs weaved between each other, gold and silver coating every possible surface. After some time, he had the sensation that he was being followed.

The flying carpet saved him from a falling pile of gold after Jai tried to remove a shield and sword from the middle of the mountain. He was too grateful for his life to be afraid of a carpet that was in mid-air.

Somehow, the tiger kept Jai alive for much longer than his natural-born life would have; food appearing when he was hungry, water appearing when he was thirsty. A bed was made from gold beams and a blanket of the softest silks from a time that was long lost. He was free from disease, and stayed healthy and fit with his endless roaming.

It was a lonely life though, and towards the end of it, Jai found himself talking aloud more and more often, wishing for companionship. The carpet, while seeming to understand him, did not have the ability to answer him, to look at him as a friend or lover could.

Jai wanted to see his family again, see if they had missed him, if they had looked for him, if his new baby sister or brother had grown up knowing his tale. He wondered if they sang songs about him, or if the mention of his name was enough to bring tears.

Age came upon him slowly, and Jai would find himself wondering why he had come down this particular set of stairs or into this particular room. The carpet stayed with him more and more often, guiding him when he couldn't see very well, ensuring he didn't fall down the stairs, and bringing fruit and water to him when he forgot to eat.

Jai stopped talking out loud eventually, the words no longer making sense to his ears. He lost all sense of his mind, of time, of everything he had remembered or known when he was younger.

Late one night, when lying in his golden bed with silken sheets and surrounded by all of the world's wealth, he took his final breath.

...

Above the sand, the wind and waters flowed, the world continued to spin, the seasons followed in an endless cycle, and the world changed.

Beneath the sand, hidden within the depths of the luxurious cave, the genie sat within his lamp. He listened to every whisper of wind, every drop of water, could feel every turn the world took. And it was driving him insane - _batty, cuckoo, loco, around the bend, mad as a hatter, bananas, bonkers, loony, psycho_ - which was definitely worse for a genie than a human.

Nine thousand years of madness and insanity took their toll, until one morning (or possibly night, it was difficult to tell when all he could see from inside his lamp were stars), the winds of change began blowing.

The world had changed, the gypsies spread out across the lands, new and old, in order to seek their fortune. And the tale of the nameless genie had gone with each and every one. Some created fantastical tales around the genie to charm townspeople for some extra coin, while others went about their lives without mentioning the genie at all, but they all remembered.

For those that did talk of the genie, they were regarded as tale-spinners, people who created a sense of fear just to get money. For the most part, no one but children listened to them, but when one gypsy provided half of a scarab to support his claim, people began to reevaluate their first impressions of what they had thought was nothing more than a story.

The scarab pieces were passed down to members of the gypsy family, unless one was so unfortunate as to get killed over it. Which, after five hundred and fifty years of the tale being taken seriously, was what happened.

The gypsy leader's death was mourned by his family, and when it was discovered that the scarab piece was not with him, a search was made for it. It was not found that night, nor for many years after.

...

Cassim was young when he first heard the story of the genie. Gazeem had tried to scare him with the tale, but had only succeeded in making him curious. Cassim's father had presented their half of the scarab to the boy for his birthday, having remade it into an amulet, and made him promise to never lose it.

Neither father nor son noticed the greedy look on Gazeem's face as the scarab passed between them.

For years, Cassim kept his promise to his father, and the scarab piece stayed with him at all times. Even when he fell in love, he kept the amulet on his person. Even when the gypsy clan continued on without him and his new wife, he kept the amulet. His wife became pregnant, and gave birth to their son, and Cassim broke his promise. He didn't want to be looked down on, didn't want to live his life in squalor, not now that he had a wife and son to provide for.

Cassim gave the amulet to his wife, made her promise to tell the tale to Aladdin when he was old enough to understand, made her promise to give him the amulet on his tenth birthday, and finally, he promised to return. He would bring back enough riches for a house as beautiful as his wife, he'd promised. She'd laughed, but watched with a heavy heart as he left her alone with their son. They both broke their promises.

Cassim's wife died when Aladdin was young, too young to understand the story, too young to receive the amulet. She was buried with the amulet, and her son was left to raise himself on the streets of Agrabah.

...

Gazeem made money by selling and twisting the story of the nameless genie. Well, it wasn't so much money as it was distracting his audience from the fact that his young friend was picking their pockets. But it was a living, and he was fed at the end of the day, so he didn't see a reason to change it.

That all changed when he met Jafar. The Grand Vizier had been so enthralled by the tale that Gazeem's young friend had almost taken six gold pieces from him. _Almost_, at least. Kind man that he was, Jafar let Gazeem live, so long as he told him the **real** story about the genie.

The riches of the world had been promised so long as Gazeem helped Jafar find the second piece of the scarab beetle. (Gazeem didn't ask how Jafar had found the first piece, and after seeing the blood on it, preferred not to know anyway.)

He agreed quickly and set about finding what had happened to Cassim, his young wife, and their son.

...

End of third chapter.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Aladdin or any variations.

_Read on, oh faithful ones_...

...

Chapter Four

...

Aladdin ran around the corner, a grin on his lips as Abu blew a raspberry at the guards running after them.

He was much younger than they were, fitter than they were (running around the streets of Agrabah did that to a kid), and knew all of the side streets and alleys.

There was a noise behind him, and Aladdin turned in time to see the sword that was flying towards him. With a small yelp, he jumped up, grabbing onto the stall quickly. The sword flew beneath him harmlessly, embedding itself into a stack of melons. Abu hurried to grab a few pieces of the shattered melon, returning to Aladdin's neck as the guards came into view.

Aladdin made his way into someone's house, apologising quickly when the woman screamed loudly. He hurried through the space to the window on the opposite side of the building. Making his way onto the roof, Aladdin waited for a few moments to make sure that the screams hadn't drawn the attention of the guards. It seemed like the stall owner had their attention for now.

With a sigh of relief, Aladdin chewed on the piece of melon offered by Abu, too grateful for the food to be really upset with the monkey for stealing a length of cloth from the woman's home. At least it looked warm.

He'd saved the monkey from its cage when he'd seen how the poor thing had been mistreated by its' owner. From then on, Abu had been his constant companion. Aladdin looked across the town, over to the palace in the distance.

"One day, Abu, we're going to be rich, and we'll have a palace of our own."

Abu had heard the same thing before, and he'd believed him once; he couldn't help but believe that the boy who had saved him from his fate would be able to make that miracle happen too. And even though he didn't believe it now - _couldn't believe it with every scrap of food they had to fight for_ - Abu could never ruin his dream, and simply nodded in return.

...

Gazeem couldn't believe that the boy could just disappear off the face of the earth without a trace. His mother had died, she'd been buried Allah knew where, and since no one could look after the kid, he'd gone and disappeared. By now he was either dead or a slave.

It took some time, but Gazeem eventually found out that Cassim's wife had been buried with the amulet. From there, it took even longer before he could persuade himself to steal from the dead.

He knew he was greedy, he didn't have much in the way of moral sense, but he had grown up as part of the gypsy clan. He knew all of the tales; the death, destruction, the women and men who had died to capture the genie. While he may have twisted the story over the years for coin, by Allah was Gazeem superstitious, and had no desire to be killed over an ugly amulet. Finally, the greed won out over his superstitions, and with the thought of gold, riches, food, and women, he stole the scarab amulet from Cassim's wife's grave.

It was the last act he would perform before the Cave of Wonders rejected him as the Diamond in the Rough, crushing him beneath the full weight of the sand tiger.

Jafar growled in annoyance, ignoring Iago's sarcastic comments. He needed that lamp, and he needed to find the Diamond in the Rough in order to get it.

...

Jasmine quietened Rajah when he tried to stop her from leaving. She had to get out of the palace; she refused to stay caged for the rest of her life. If she was going to be forced to marry the likes of Prince Achmed, then she was determined to escape before that happened.

She pleaded with Rajah, and her pet, her friend, seemed to understand, and reluctantly helped her over the stone wall. Slipping her hood on carefully, Jasmine made her way through the streets of Agrabah as the sun began to rise on the horizon.

Further in the city, the sun was rising and shining directly onto Aladdin's face. He woke up within a minute of the bright light, figuring he might as well get an early start before the guards came down from the palace into the town...

...

From the moment he met the Princess, events seemed to fly by Aladdin so fast he could hardly comprehend it. Abu didn't like the girl he'd met at the marketplace, but Aladdin was in love. He didn't listen, and somehow, he'd ended up in gaol, waiting to rot with the rest of the street scum. He couldn't believe that he was really going to be _killed_ for stealing food (and a length of cloth or three, but hey, he had to keep warm), but it seemed that the guards would be celebrating this day.

An old man with a jutting gold tooth started speaking to him, weaving words of treasures and golds, of everlasting riches and a way out of the gaol. Aladdin didn't believe him for a second; he'd spun more than one tale himself, and could tell when someone was lying. _But_ ... But then, the old man had opened the very wall itself, and his curiosity overcame him, making Aladdin question the old man's story, wondering what else he hadn't been lying about.

There was a tiger out of sand, a cavern of gold and treasure - just as the old man had described - and Abu, the greedy monkey, ignored the tiger's warnings and almost killed them. Luckily, there was a flying carpet to save them from death, and Abu had stolen the precious lamp from the old man before they plunged into the darkness.

...

The genie felt the lamp vibrating all around him. Light and smoke filled the small space and he burst out of the end in a large puff of blue smoke.

His neck was aching something terrible, the space in which he'd been forced to live confining and painful. The human before him looked so tiny, especially compared to some of the large beasts of men he'd served in the past. Even the gypsies had seemed larger than this one common boy.

The genie was genuinely pleased to see the carpet. He thought the old rug would have stayed with that other boy that had been wandering around. No matter how many times the boy looked directly at the genie's lamp, his eyes continued to go past, as if he hadn't seen the lamp at all. It had been very confusing for the carpet, who simply continued with the boy, unable to tell him of the lamp being right there in front of him.

So, standing in front of this tiny man and an even smaller monkey, the genie put on a show, a warped amusement after ten thousand years with no one but himself for company. The genie spun his magic to impress the boy (the monkey didn't seem to care), all showmanship and flashing lights, blinding brilliance in the small cave. He was smarter than the boy seemed to realise, but let the boy trick him into getting them out of the cave without wishing for it. He hadn't done much more than open a hole in the cave's ceiling, and the carpet had done the rest.

Later, the boy would tell the genie that he was in love with that Princess, and the genie wouldn't mention how Al didn't seem too fussed about kissing the phantom girl he'd created with his magic. On seeing Princess Jasmine for himself, well... The genie could understand why Al liked her. There was a stirring somewhere inside him, but he hadn't felt anything in so long that he dismissed it as an affect of finally using his power again.

Things went on, changed, and deep at the bottom of that ocean, the genie had discovered that he genuinely liked the kid. He'd been desperate to save him (a small part of him realising that without Al he'd never see Princess Jasmine again) and had bent the rules that bound him to the lamp in order to save him. A heap of bubbles underwater didn't equate to a verbal question, and a slight fall of the head while going unconscious wasn't exactly a nod, but a wish was a wish and the genie was desperate enough to hope that he wouldn't be punished for trying to save a human.

He had been punished, but it was by the very human he'd saved. It was amazing to think that a human with such limited capability could not understand the fact that genies - especially ones that had been captured, tortured, stuck in a lamp for far more than ten thousand years, and no chance of using their power, their very life essence - could have just as many feelings as they did. In fact, genies had many more feelings than humans could ever hope to have. The genie could see the past, the present, and the future at all times, his magic weaving through the ages in order to bring forth things that made no sense to the limited humans before him, yet they were completely understandable if they had known what he did. He felt everything all at once, could still feel the pain of his capture and the ancient magic that kept him bound to the lamp. He could feel everything, and when he was insulted and offended by the same person he'd risked his own neck in order to save, everything was just all that more painful.

Being in Jafar's possession certainly hadn't helped. It was the usual schtick with him: power, wealth, and more power. While Aladdin had hurt him emotionally, at least_his_ request had allowed him to use his magic without reservation.

Aladdin had been smart by tricking Jafar, or simply gotten lucky. Any bound genie who creates another genie could only ever create one that is also bound. If he'd been free and decided to create a genie, _then_ it would be just like old times when chaos ruled everything and _he could still hear the screams_.

A bolt of pain brought him back to the present, unnoticed as the black genie version of Jafar was sucked down into his own prison, dragging Iago with him. A pop of the beak, and the lamp lid was on, sealing them inside. The genie picked up the black lamp. He weighed it in his hand for a moment. _All of that power, itty bitty living space_. He wondered how long it would take for Jafar to change blue. Then he flicked it away, towards the past, present, future location of the Cave of Wonders. There was cheering, shouting, happiness all around, and he turned everything - everyone - back to normal.

The genie wouldn't admit that he'd liked Jasmine in red, even after Jafar had been defeated and everything had returned to normal. Sometimes he'd dream about it though, the idea of her walking to him as she had to Jafar, those words for him, her lips on his mouth. Then he'd wake up in a shower of pain that was almost worse than in his earlier years, when he'd first become a prisoner of the lamp, back when he dreamed of the days when he was free, and the carnage he'd caused, back when he'd enjoyed and relished the thought of the _good old days_.

Then the unimaginable happened. **Freedom**. Complete freedom without the cramped living space, the shackles removed, and the ability to go anywhere, do anything, see everything that he only knew about.

He'd been kissed by Jasmine, and had hurried to make an exit before he could somehow decide to take her with him. _He wondered if she'd like Paris_.

...

The genie saw everything he wanted, every part of the world at every time he could imagine. He travelled it all, trying not to think of what he'd left behind. He travelled everywhere in order to find someone to spend his time with, but people in the future didn't have the time for genies. He travelled back into the past, but he was no longer the same genie as those ones who tormented humans. He had changed, and his light blue colour was more than enough evidence of that. He was rejected by the people of the future, the genies of the past, and all that was left was the present.

He told himself that he was returning to the present for the carpet, Aladdin, even Abu and Rajah. The genie didn't let himself think about Jasmine, and if her face popped into his mind when he was travelling back to her time - to Aladdin's time - he simply dismissed it as a trick of the light.

He landed back at the sultan's palace, distributing his gifts (no one really seemed to appreciate them) and trying not to think of Jasmine in red.

Things happened - Jafar escaping; Iago becoming a semi-good guy and saving them from Jafar; Cassim, Aladdin's father turning up and destroying the first attempt at Aladdin and Jasmine's wedding; an island-carrying turtle and an Oracle-led treasure hunt; forty thieves being defeated; and finally, Jasmine and Aladdin were married. The genie had to bite his tongue when the crowd was asked whether there were any objections, and tried not to think of her in white anymore than he already was.

In what felt like minutes, two years had passed.

...

End of the fourth chapter.

Thanks for reading; I hope you liked it!


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